Case Study: Irish Manufacturing Research achieves rapid, streamlined additive manufacturing of spinal implants with nTopology

IMR & Renishaw Streamline the Additive Manufacturing of Spinal Implants

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) partnered with Renishaw to develop an additively manufactured Anterior Cervical Interbody Device (ACID) that promotes osseointegration and matches the mechanical properties of bone. To meet this medical-device challenge—optimizing porous lattice geometry, ensuring manufacturability, and accelerating development—IMR used nTopology’s generative design and engineering software throughout the project.

nTopology enabled IMR to control spatial design variables and physical fields for lattice optimization, rapidly iterate seven concepts, and slice/export builds directly to Renishaw’s native format for the RenAM 500M. The result was a clinically viable titanium (Ti 6Al-4V ELI) implant developed faster and more efficiently: design tasks that took hours now take minutes, project timelines shortened to months instead of years, and output file size dropped from ~300 MB to 15 MB, while meeting relevant ISO/ASTM standards. nTopology’s tools also reduced manual errors and streamlined the path to manufacture.

Irish Manufacturing Research

Sean McConnel

Senior Additive Research Engineer